The last few ZooChatters who have visited Gladys Porter Zoo and typed up reviews have been less than complimentary, as a huge bulk of the facility was built 45 years ago and hasn't been altered much since then! I'm sure that there's still many adequate enclosures, but does the zoo even have a single really excellent, world-class animal exhibit? There's a lot of mock-rock exhibits everywhere and so a major expansion is very exciting to go beyond the current 31 acres/12 hectares. The future new area will probably make the older, original zoo look even worse but at least it will get people through the front gates. The zoo's attendance has been hovering around 400,000 for a long time, as the city of Brownsville is 4 hours south of San Antonio and quite far out of the way, but a boost with a new section opening would be most welcome and I would love for this zoo to regain its status as a must-visit destination.
I visited once, back in 2010, and saw rarities (for North American zoos) such as Jentink's Duiker, Yellow-backed Duiker, Bontebok, Harnessed Bushbuck, Arabian Oryx, Red Brocket Deer, Gaur, Bearded Pig, Pileated Gibbon, Southern Grey Gibbon, Sun Bear, Philippine Crocodile and Saltwater Crocodile, plus inquisitive Gorillas that literally jumped into their moat and splashed around in the water. But, even then, I made mention of the many outdated exhibits and the species list is not quite as exciting these days. If the zoo is going to almost double in size then that's a fantastic piece of news for zoo nerds everywhere.
The #crownedcranes are now a family of 5 #GPZoo #birds #chicks #babybirds"
